Tuesday's Truth (Joel)

Here we are again- it's Tuesday! What a wonderful day of the week! :) This week's truth comes from the book of Joel. I hope you enjoy this book like I did!

“A call to repentance” is the theme of Joel 2:12-17. The people of Judah were in a severe famine, and their nation was quickly being destroyed before them. Because of such harsh judgments on the land, they soon realized how desperate they were for God. God was calling His people back to a repentant heart so He could pour out His abundance upon them again. God longs to show off His greatness to those that oppose you, but He requires that you repent before He will do anything.

Repentance is such an intriguing concept here because God commands the people not to try to tear their outer garments, but He wants them to “tear” their hearts. He is asking them to come before Him with humility and brokenness, not outward sacrifices. He wasn’t concerned as much with how they expressed words and emotions on the outside, as He was with the condition of their heart on the inside. God does, however, recognize that what is shown on the outside is a reflection of what is on the inside (Matthew 12:34). We must realize that our outside reactions begin with inside motives.

Just as God called the people of Judah to repentance, God calls each of us to repentance. This story was one of complete desperation and fear for God’s people, but God wants us to come to Him before we even reach that point. Every day we should be careful to come before Christ with a heart of repentance. Although we do so not expecting anything in return (except a clean conscience and "fast pass" to Heaven when the rapture takes place) we can freely partake of the abundance of God. God wants to bless His people with abundance, so don’t give Him any reason not to do it! Live every day with a clean heart, and become confident that God’s favor will soon follow you!

F.L.F.

Fancy Lunch Fridays! My friend Miquel Hanks and I eat lunch together everyday. She noted to me one day in conversation that I eat almost the exact same thing for lunch everyday. HA! I had never thought about it before she pointed it out to me! You see, my personality type is Phlegmatic-Sanguine. Definition of Phlegmatic. Definition of Sanguine. (To find out your personality type, you can take one of the numerous online tests [HERE] ) It's my belief that my phlegmatic side wins when i pack my lunch everyday. :) Anyhoo... in case you were just dying to know, my lunch consists of a burrito (from the freezer section at a local grocery store) some fruit, and a crystal lite strawberry flavored water drink. Although it does not sound as appealing in written form, I assure you- it gets me through my day. :) In light of this new revelation, I chose to do something "out of character" and bring something *gasp* different for lunch on Fridays! I even have this special lunch bag that I carry on Fridays =)   

 

Since today is FRIDAY, I brought rice, sausage, broccoli, and frozen grapes for lunch!! That sounds pretty fancy, right?? :) Ok, so it wasn't a steak (yum) or anything, but the whole point of F.L.F. is for me to get out of my box and try something new! Basically, today I was gettin' fancy! :)

Tuesday's Truth!

It's Tuesday- I know Monday's always get a bad reputation for being the worst day of the week, Wednesday's get noticed for being "hump day" since it's the middle of the week, and Friday's get the good name for being the end of the work week. I can't help but feel a little sorry for Tuesday's and Thursdays... So to help out my Tuesdays, I am going to share a Truth! It shall now be Tuesday's Truths! :) Here is this week's Truth!

In Jeremiah 1:1-2, it mentions two men associated with Jeremiah. These two men are Hilkiah and King Josiah. Hilkiah was Jeremiah’s father, and also the priest. It appears that from the time Jeremiah was born, he was fortunate to have godly influences in his life. The King during Jeremiah’s early life was a righteous ruler who was leading the nation back to God. While reading about how Jeremiah had these godly influences in his life, it caused me to wonder about the rest of his nation. While Jeremiah was being raised by his father the priest, and being lead under a righteous King, what were Jeremiah’s peers and family doing? It states in Jeremiah 12:6 that Jeremiah’s brothers “dealt treacherously” with him. The boys were raised in the same house, with the same father; yet only one is recorded to have fulfilled the call of God on his life. I am uncertain of the reasoning why Jeremiah’s brothers treated him poorly. It could have been jealousy, or perhaps they were embarrassed of their socially awkward brother. Whatever the reason may have been, Jeremiah held tight to the calling that God had placed upon him. I am certain the godly influences were a blessing to Jeremiah, but there was still a decision he had to make for himself. He had to decide whether or not he would choose the life of loneliness and persecution. It would have been easy, and certainly convenient, for him to live a “normal” life, but he chose to cling to God instead of culture.

We have the same choice as Jeremiah. God has called each of us to do great things for Him, and to be individuals that reflect His image to this world. We have godly influences all around us. We sit under some of the same teachers and preachers. Will this be the time we treat our brothers and sisters in Christ treacherously like Jeremiah’s brothers? Will we allow jealousy or our “cool” reputation to cause us to look down on fellow believers and students? I am convinced that this is the time we shall fully immerse ourselves in the calling of God like Jeremiah did. We should be willing to do whatever He asks, in spite of what others may say, or how our culture accepts us. I issue a challenge: strive to live a life not based on what people in your life think, but what God has called you to be.

The Thirteenth Chapter

As so many others have created blogs (for various reasons) I too decided to join in with the mix of cyber exposure. This will be a simple blog- nothing fanshy shmanshy. I want this blog to be a little "keepsake" of my senior year of college. This blog will contain a lot about me as an individual, but will also feature things regarding my class, my school, my friends, my family, and my church. The name of this blog came from a thought I had while thinking about my previous years at Christian Life College. To see some information about my  college, click (Here!) or you can also see what's going on with us on facebook by clicking (Here!) This year, I will be ending such a beautiful chapter in my life. I have grown, learned, experienced, and done so much. It seems as though I am a completely different person than who I was at the beginning of my college journey! Although this previous chapter of my life has been fun and exciting, I am very excited about what God has for my future! I titled this blog as The Thirteenth Chapter, because chapter 13 is only the middle of the book- there are so many more chapters to follow! To top it off, the further along you read in a book, the more intense and exciting a book seems to get! So as I embrace this new chapter of life, I am expecting new twists in the plot and working on a beautiful ending. I would love it if you were one of the "good guys" in my life's book! ;)